Bloodstream
by CheeseeMagic
Summary: What if, in the finale of season one, it wasn't Katherine on the porch but Elena who kissed Damon? How would that go and what would be the consequences of those actions? Could Elena betray Stefan to be with his brother? Where's Katherine?
1. Confusion

Just a little note about how I came to write this FanFiction. Not so long ago I watched the season finale of Vampire Diaries and was thrilled by the kiss scene. Then I found out that it was Katherine and got upset because I love Delena! So I moped and moped and then moped some more until more mopance was physically impossible. At a loss, I thought I'd write a little something just for me so as to combat the many emotions I was feeling at the time. I wrote a little bit and showed it to no-one, not even my fabulous sister. But I'd like some feedback now as I think I'm ready for some critique. This is my first ever fic so go please so easy xD

I unfortunately do not own the Vampire Diaries or any of its characters.

Elena wandered down the path towards her house slowly, lost in her thoughts. Today had been an eventful day and her head was still spinning from all the things that had happened. She was just glad Bonnie had changed her mind and decided to help save Stefan and Damon. She wouldn't have known what to do if they'd died in there. It would certainly break her down if Stefan had died, but would she really be so bothered if Damon had been killed. Of course she would, what was she thinking? She was just as close to the Salvatore brother she had once hated as she was to the one who she'd fallen in love with almost at first sight. But in different ways of course. Her closeness to Stefan was natural; it was so easy to trust him. Hell, even Bonnie liked him to an extent and she was the vampire-hater. That was how easy it was to love him. With Damon things were different. Their closeness was a different kind, the kind that develops over time, which is built through trust, through somebody coming through again and again.

Elena's trance was broken by the appearance of somebody coming out of the house. She looked up instinctively, startled. Damon sauntered out of the door, closing it behind him.

"What are you doing here?"Elena asked, confused as to his purpose here.

"A failed and feeble attempt at doing the right thing," he replied quietly, looking at his feet.

"Which was?" She hadn't meant for her tone to be so harsh, it made her sad the way his face fell a little as she said it. She threw him a quick smile, hoping it would thaw her cold words.

"It's not important. Here, let me take this from you." He took the bags she held in her hands and took them over to the porch swing, leaving them there before returning to her side.

"Thank you."

"You know, I came to this town wanting to destroy it," Damon uttered quietly, his tone thoughtful. "Tonight I found myself... wanting to protect it. How's that happening?"

Elena opened her mouth to reply, but he started talking again before she had the chance to say what she'd wanted to say.

"I'm not a hero, Elena. I don't do good. It's not really me."

This time she spoke before he could cut her off.

"Maybe it is." The words weren't as effective as she'd have liked them to be, but she had to say them before he had the chance to stop her.

_Wake up, look me in the eyes again. I need to feel your hand upon my face._

"No, that's reserved for my brother. And you. And Bonnie. Even though she still has every reason to hate me, I hope Stefan saved me." He said these words in a tone of surprise, which Elena immediately picked up on.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" The words came out before she had a chance to stop herself.

"'Cause she did it for you," he elaborated.

Elena's eyes widened for a second at this reply, though why, she didn't have a clue

Damon stepped a little closer, looking down at the girl.

"Which means that somewhere along the way, you decided I was worth saving," he continued. "And I wanted to... thank you... for that."

"You're welcome," she said, a tiny smile on her lips.

_Words can be like knives, they can cut you open._

Damon leant down to kiss her on the cheek, an action which warranted a certain amount of surprise from Elena.

_And silence surrounds you._

He came back up and all of a sudden things changed. A spark flickered in the air. He examined her face from her hairline to her chin, desire taking hold of him.

_And haunts you._

Somehow their faces gravitated together, until they were just inches apart.

_I think I might have inhaled you_.

And then they were kissing. Soft, wonderful, tender kisses.

_I can feel you behind my eyes. You've gotten into my bloodstream._

Hands reached for faces, intensifying the experience.

_I can feel you flowing in me._

The door then clicked open, a surprised Jenna stood behind it. The surprise quickly morphed into disapproval.

The two faces locked together broke apart, Elena turning to look at Jenna, Damon turning to look away from Jenna.

"Hi," was apparently the only thing Elena felt she could say.

"It's late, you should probably come inside," Jenna spoke coldly, watching as Elena grabbed her things from the porch swing and ducked inside the house without a second glance at the man she'd just been kissing. Jenna closed the door swiftly behind her and glared at Elena. "What are you doing?"

"I... don't want to talk about it," Elena replied quickly and something about her tone stopped Jenna from interrogating her further. Anyway, before Jenna could even get one word out Elena was swooping up the stairs.

Outside, Damon stood in the same spot on the porch he'd kissed his brother's girlfriend, contemplating all that had happened just minutes ago. This wasn't good. Just when he and Stefan were _finally_ sort of getting along, he'd gone and done that. Not that he regretted it or anything though. Partly because he didn't regret, he just did what he wanted and if other people didn't like it well screw them, but mostly because this was _Elena_ he was talking about and, as Isobel had said previously, he was in love with her. He wasn't sure how it had happened exactly, but he was sure of it. At first he'd only wanted to be with her to annoy Stefan, which was why he'd tried to compel her to kiss him before. But then things had gotten deeper and he wanted to be with her in _spite_ of Stefan. And that wasn't good. Because he wasn't supposed to feel. He was supposed to the big, bad vampire, who felt nothing but a thirst for blood and a desire to irritate Stefan. That was who he'd been for the last century and a half. And deviation from that attitude could lead to serious trouble. He'd learnt that the last time he'd felt like this, the time that had lead to him becoming a vampire. Plus, and this was the odd part, he actually felt bad for Stefan. And _that_ couldn't be ignored as a sign of him becoming soft.

But he'd have to think about this later, he still hadn't moved from in front of the house. He swiftly brushed his fingers over his own lips, which felt numb, and left the vicinity in a flash.

Upstairs, Elena sat on her bed, thoughts rushing through her head. What had just happened? Had she really just been caught by Jenna kissing Damon? The thought of it was quite ludicrous, though it had happened. She knew this because, as she prodded her lips absent-mindedly, they still felt all numb and tingly. She didn't even know how to feel about what had happened. It was all a big blur. She didn't know how they'd begun kissing, it had just sort of happened. Damon had been all sweet and lovely and she'd been unprepared. The worst part, though, was that she couldn't even regret it. Because she'd loved every second. Because, although she'd never realised it before, she loved Damon. And that was not a clever thing to do. Because, first of all, she was already dating his brother. Second of all, the many bad things he'd done couldn't be ignored. And third of all, he was a vampire. Not that she had anything against vampires, she was dating one after all, but he drank human blood and that was not a good trait. But the connection between them was uncanny. When she was around him, she couldn't help but feel safe and secure. Because he'd proven that so many times before. And that kiss, well it certainly had made an impression upon her.

But she was with Stefan. And she loved him. He loved her. She couldn't break his heart like that, she couldn't. She couldn't break her own heart like that. The thought of hurting him in that way, it made her shudder. But could she lie to him? Could she carry on dating him when his brother was so obviously after her heart himself? She wasn't a good liar, especially when it came to Stefan. She wasn't used to lying to Stefan, they told each other everything because neither had anything to hide. Not until now anyway. Now it had all been messed up.

She ran a hand through her hair in exasperation. This was such an impossible situation.

The song used is the one actually played during the scene, Bloodstream by Stateless. Hence the name! Lol!


	2. Confessions

Elena awoke from her slumber in a pretty good mood. The sun was shining through her thin satin curtains, she could the birds singing from the tree near her window and a general feeling of happiness filled the air. Then things went downhill. The first thing to bring her down was when she checked her phone to find a text from Matt. Caroline was in hospital; Tyler had crashed the car with Caroline and Matt in and Caroline was in surgery. She texted Matt back saying that she would get there as soon as she could, but had a bad signal and the text wouldn't send. Great, just great. Then she remembered last night's confusing events and their even more confusing consequences. What on earth was she going to do? Maybe it was time to admit to herself that she and Damon shared something that Stefan had never matched. Maybe it was time to admit it to Damon. Maybe it was time to admit it to Stefan. She couldn't live the charade any longer. She'd known it for a while; last night's kiss had only confirmed it.

And now she had to do something about it for once. With shaking, fumbling fingers she dialled Damon's number, without a clue as to what she was actually doing. She held the Blackberry up to her ear, listening to the soft ringing as she wandered into her bathroom. But she stopped dead in her tracks before he picked up. The bathroom counter was littered with pills, the plastic canister thrown aside in a haphazard fashion. She didn't know what had gone on in here, but she knew instinctively that it wasn't good. In this house a counter covered in pills was never a good thing.

As if controlled by some other force, Elena stumbled out of the bathroom and into Jeremy's room, where she threw herself at the lump on the bed, her phone thrown onto the dresser placed by the door.

"Jeremy?" she rasped, terrified as to what she'd do if he didn't wake up. She grabbed his shoulders and shook the sleeping boy with desperate fingers. "Jeremy!"

His eyes opened and he mumbled some kind of angry retort, pushing his older sister away and trying to curl back under his duvet. Unfortunately, slow with sleepiness, Elena grabbed him before he could escape.

"Oh, Jeremy! I'm so glad you're okay! I thought – oh I thought you were dead, Jeremy." She pulled him into an awkward hug, with him struggling out of her grip.

"I _am_ dead, Elena. I'm a vampire." It hadn't taken him long to wake up.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I drank some of Anna's blood and then I overdosed on those pills in the bathroom."

"No! You can't be!" she sobbed, devastated by the news. "Stay there!" she ordered, backing away from him and grabbing her phone.

Once away from him she looked at the screen of her Blackberry and remembered what she'd been doing before finding the pills. She needed to call somebody, to get help. Only she was torn as to who to call. Damon? Or Stefan? Which one could she face? The vampire brother who she'd kissed last night? Or the one who she'd cheated on?

"Hello?" a voice answered the phone. "Elena?"

"Damon," she whispered through a sudden onslaught of tears. How had her life gotten so complicated?

"Did you just call me? A couple of minutes ago?" His voice held none of his usual sarcasm, only concern.

"Yeah, er, I need your help. It's Jeremy." She fought against the tears, angry at herself for being so overly emotional.

"What's up?" his voice was like velvet. It was surprisingly gentle.

"Could you just come here please?"

"Sure, I'll be there soon." And with that he hung up on her.

While he was on his way, she began getting washed and dressed. She was finishing straightening her hair when she heard him knock on the door. Unplugging the hot device and placing it on the safety mat, Elena trotted down the stairs to greet her friend.

"Oh good, you're here," she sighed, opening the door.

"You ask I come," he replied, sliding in through the small place between the door and the door frame.

Elena put her finger to her lips, pointing the John, who was sitting at the dining table eating a bowl of cereal.

"No, Elena, I will not go to your bedroom with you," Damon joked and Elena assumed he was making a reference to the rendezvous when Stefan was on human blood.

She dragged him by the arm upstairs, not in the mood for reminiscing. Especially not about that time in her life. Especially not about Stefan.

The odd thing was that John didn't even bat an eyelid at Damon. He simply carried on eating his cereal, looking up at them but doing nothing else. It was as if he'd forgotten that yesterday he'd tried to kill Damon. But Elena wasn't going to dwell on that. She had more important things to worry about, like her possibly undead vampire brother.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Elena turned to Damon and pulled him into her room, where she fell onto the bed. He wandered around the room, touching things as he pleased.

"Now, Elena, what's going on?" he asked at last, fingering through her various items of possession. This really was a blast from the past. Last time his nosiness had irritated her, now she couldn't really care less; there were more important things than Damon looking through her underwear drawer.

"It's Jeremy. Apparently he is now a vampire." The words tasted bitter on her tongue, foreign.

"What? How the hell did that happen?" he asked, his attention now fully focused on the conversation at hand.

"He drank Anna's blood and then overdosed."

"That's impossible. Anna's dead. I watched your father kill her last night. I came _here_ and told Jeremy that myself last night." He hadn't meant the words to come out so harsh, it hurt a little to see the flicker of sadness on Elena's face.

"Well that's what he said happened."

"Alright, I'll go talk to him." He turned from her and was about the push through the door into Jeremy's bedroom.

"Wait a sec," Elena whispered, taking a hold of Damon's leather jacket and pulling him back. When he gave a look of confusion, she said "Be nice. I know that's difficult for you, but be nice to him please. He's done something stupid, but don't be too harsh. He's still my brother."

"Fine, whatever." Damon loosened Elena's grip on his jacket, but she took hold of it again before he could move.

"I'm serious, Damon. Promise me."

He turned and looked her in the eyes. "I promise, Elena." Then he entered Jeremy's room.

Jeremy was sitting on his bed, a vacant look in his eyes.

"So just run it by me again. What happened exactly?" Damon asked, approaching Jeremy.

"He said that Anna gave him her blood and then he took these pills and–and now I–I mean he look fine, but then again so do you so I just don't know."

Damon bent down to Jeremy's level, taking hold of his face and forcing him to look at him.

"C'mon, look at me"

"I'm fine, okay. I feel exactly the same," Jeremy argued, squirming away from Damon's grasp.

"Should I call a paramedic? Okay, what should I do?" Elena could feel the panic creeping into her body. She was feeling more and more terrified by the minute.

Damon examined Jeremy's face closely, a look of complete concentration in his baby blue eyes.

"Nope, he's fine."

"You mean I'm not a vampire?"

"You wish." Damon smirked.

"Damn it," Jeremy cursed.

"Don't say that!" Elena scolded. "Jeremy, why would you want that?"

"Did you hear about Anna? What happened to her tonight?" Jeremy paused for dramatic impact then said in a small, sombre voice "She's dead."

Damon rolled his eyes at this, he knew that already.

"I know that, _I_ told _you_ that. And I'm very sorry about that, but listen to me, you little idiot. Anna's blood will be leaving your system right now, which means that if you do something stupid again like try to kill yourself, you might actually die. And, for me, that wouldn't be an issue, but it would kill your sister. So don't do it. Do you understand me?" Damon's last words were practically growled. His eyes were bulging with fury and his mouth was twisted into a grimace of tempestuousness.

"Yeah, I understand," Jeremy spoke quietly.

Damon's expression cleared and he stepped away from the teenage boy, feeling like he'd done something pretty good on his part.

"What about the pills that he took?" Elena asked, speaking to Damon but still looking at Jeremy.

"He didn't take enough to die so the blood Anna gave him actually healed that."

Jeremy's face was the picture of disappointment.

Elena's phone beeped and she checked the text. It was Matt asking if Elena was coming.

"You want me to come with you to the hospital?" Damon asked and she nodded. "Or does somebody need to be babysitting this little one?" Damon's voice was mocking as he pointed to Jeremy.

"I'll get Stefan to come," Elena replied. Stefan was good with Jeremy, he'd look after him.

"No, I don't need a babysitter!" Jeremy interrupted indignantly.

Elena gave him her best disappointed look.

"Yes, you do."

She quickly whizzed off a text to Stefan, explaining the basics of the situation. He replied almost instantly and told Elena he'd be there in five. She supposed Jeremy would be fine on his own for five minutes.

"Don't do anything stupid," Damon told Jeremy as he and Elena left the room.

Damon drove, even though it wasn't his car.

"Why did you ask me to come to see Jeremy?" asked Damon as he started up the car. "Why not Stefan?"

"I... don't know. I guess I thought you'd know more about this than he would." She didn't know why she was lying about it, the reason she'd called Damon was because she felt too chicken to see Stefan. She was afraid that if he came he'd smell her unfaithfulness the moment he walked into the house. It was a silly notion, but she couldn't help it.

"Oh." No more words were spoken by either of them until they reached the hospital.

"Caroline's on floor six, room three oh five, according to Matt," Elena explained to Damon and they set off for that ward.

Upon arriving at the right place the pair found Matt and Bonnie sitting on plastic chairs outside the surgery room, their expressions cheerless. They both stood upon her arrival and she hugged them both before taking a seat beside Bonnie.

"I'm going to go see her mom, okay?" Damon explained to Elena, leaving the glum trio in his wake.

"Liz," Damon greeted the tiny blonde sheriff sat by herself. "I came as soon as I got the message, is she okay?"

Liz stood up, her eyes swimming. "She's in surgery, they're doing everything they can." She paused, looking down. "I need your help Damon."

"Sure, anything, Liz" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder comfortably as they moved to somewhere a little more private.

"Mayor Lockwood is dead." She spoke quickly and her voice sounded sad and feeble. "They thought he was a vampire; they put him in the basement."

Damon adjusted his position slightly, folding his arms and leaning in closer.

"Mayor Lockwood was a vampire?"

"No, no, no, a mistake was made. They said he dropped like the others when John's device went off, but..." She paused as somebody went by, not wanting them to hear her conversation. "He _couldn't _have been a vampire. I've known the man my whole life. And now Carol Lockwood is going to want answers and all I can think about right now is _Caroline_ and I–" She couldn't speak anymore, her sobbing making it too hard.

"It's okay, hey," Damon spoke soothingly, letting the smaller woman cry on his shoulder. "It's okay." He patted her on the back comfortingly.

Meanwhile, Elena was trying to find out what was happening with Caroline from Bonnie.

"Bonnie, how's Caroline?" Elena asked.

"She's weak," replied Bonnie sadly. "They don't know if she's gonna make it."

Damon watched the pair embrace from afar.

"What?" Elena's voice sounded terrified and shocked. "Is there something you can do? Like a spell or something?"

"She doesn't know how," spoke Damon and both Elena and Bonnie turned their attention to him. He moved closer. "Do you?"

"No." The humiliation and disappointment was clear in Bonnie's voice. "I don't."

"You don't." He hated to admit it as he was trying to be a better person, but this was immensely enjoyable. He'd always disliked Bonnie, the way she sat on her high horse all the time and thought she was the best witch in the world when actually she was just a novice. "Because it took Emily _years_ to learn a spell like that."

The dark-skinned girl glared at him with judging eyes. "Yeah, well I can take down a vampire. That spell was easy to learn." The girl's triumphant smirk made it so hard not to rip off her head.

Damon turned to Elena.

"I can give Caroline some blood."

"No," Elena spoke firmly. "No way." She shook her head and put her hands on her hips.

"No, no, just enough to heal her. She'll be safe in the hospital. It'll be out of her system in a day. She'll be better."

"It's too risky. I can't agree to that."

"Do it," spoke Bonnie firmly and both Damon and Elena turned to her. She spoke to Elena. "This is _Caroline_. Okay. We can't let her die." She turned and spoke to Damon next. "Do it."

Damon spotted a loophole in this for him.

"If I do it, you and me call a truce?"

"No. But you'll do it anyway." She paused, another smug sneer spreading over her lips. "For Elena."

Neither Damon nor Elena had any reply to that. Instead Elena just gave Bonnie a slight nod and the witch swept away down the hall without a second glance at either of them, her heels clacking on the tiled floor.

They both watched her go before turning to each other.

"I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now, but we should probably talk about what happened last night."

"Yeah, I guess we should," Elena sighed, running her fingers through her hair exasperatedly. "I... don't know what happened. I cheated on Stefan. With his brother. And I liked it. Which is wrong on so many levels. I'm afraid of seeing Stefan because I'm scared he'll find out about it. I know it's ridiculous, but I feel like as soon as he sees me he'll smell the unfaithfulness on me. Did any of that make sense to you or do you just think I'm crazy and stupid?"

"It made sense. A little. But you're going to have to face him eventually. And tell him what we did. And you're also going to have to face how you feel about me. Because, if you were really in a good healthy relationship last night would have never happened. But it did. Which means that maybe you and Stefan aren't the strong couple you thought you were."

"Damon, I can't be with–"

"–Just listen to me Elena. You said before that we have something and we do. You and me, we're soul mates. There's something going on between us and you know it. _I've_ known that for a long time, last night only strengthened it. I love you, Elena. And I _know_ that somewhere deep down you love me too. Don't you dare tell me you don't because the only person you'd be lying to is yourself. And I can't bear to see that, Elena. I can't bear to see you live a life that brings you misery when the life that you want more than anything in the world is so close. Don't let your chance slip away, Elena. Don't let your chance at happiness beyond your wildest dreams disappear from view. Catch it, Elena. Catch what we have and hold it close to your heart forever. I know you love Stefan, Elena, I get it. But I also know that what you and him have is nothing like what you and I have. There's no passion behind your love, there's tenderness, there's lovey-dovey mushy stuff, you have romantic comedy moments all the time. But with us there's fire, with us there's pure spark, with us there's real proper legit love. And I won't let it escape me. I won't."

Elena's eyes were tearing up.

"Oh my god, Damon. That was the most beautiful speech I have ever heard in my entire life. But I wasn't going to say I didn't love you. I was going to say that I can't be with Stefan any longer when I'm in such love with you."

Damon turned to her, a fire in his eyes. Elena's eyes mirrored the look, desire burning inside.

He went to gather her into a hug, but she wasn't going to settle for that. Elena smashed her lips against Damon's, pressing herself into his embrace. The kiss was cautious at first, both surprised by it, but their bodies couldn't hold out for long. It was as if their bodies were pieces of a jigsaw, fitting perfectly into each other's shapes. It was Damon who pulled away, breaths heavy and eyes wide with disbelief. But he kept their faces close, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Was what Bonnie said true?" asked Elena, still not moving away from Damon. "Would you give Caroline blood and save her just for me?"

"I would. Though I wish, for just once, I could prove that witch wrong. She drives me _crazy_," Damon growled, though he didn't seem that mad.

"Yeah, well, I think you have the same effect on her. And I hate to admit it, but sometimes she drives _me_ crazy too. Since she became a witch she just seems like a different person. She used to be fun, now she's all doom and gloom and 'oh I'm an awesome witch, I can do anything even though I've only been practicing for five minutes, I'm gonna take down all the vampires because I'm hardcore'". Elena finished off the rant with a little growl of her own.

"I feel exactly the same way," Damon agreed. He kissed her softly, retreating quickly and hugging her against his hard chest.

It was then that Elena saw the silhouette through a peripheral glance. She turned away from Damon and saw Bonnie's hurt and betrayed expression as she stared at the embracing couple. Damon's arms were still wrapped around Elena's waist and Elena's hands were still resting on the contours of his chest. They'd been caught again. Plus, from the look on Bonnie's face she'd heard Elena's rant. Uh-oh.

"Bonnie, let me explain," Elena pleaded, but Bonnie was already fleeing, sprinting down the corridor the way she had come from. Elena disentangled herself from Damon and ran after her best friend, leaving Damon to think about what had just gone on.


	3. Chat

They were at a dead end, the only doors in the vicinity being the double door behind Elena and the janitor's closet Bonnie was stood near.

"I haven't changed a bit since I got my powers, thank you very much. So you can just shut up and leave me alone! I want nothing to do with you." And with that she tried to sweep off dramatically, but Elena caught hold of her arm and Bonnie kind of fell backwards awkwardly. She wrenched her arm from Elena's grasp and gave her a death glare, her eyes crinkling and her mouth crumpling into a tight-lipped grimace.

"Oh no, _you're_ not going anywhere. I want to talk this out, sort it out like adults. That's what we're supposed to be and that's how we are going to act." Elena let go of Bonnie and grabbed the mop out of the janitor's closet before walking over to the double doors and barricading them closed. "And until you and I are best friends again, neither of us are leaving this corridor and nobody is getting in here. So come over here, sit down beside me and talk."

Elena leant against the wall, sliding down it until she was sitting on the dusty hospital floor.

"You're crazy, do you know that, Elena? But I want to get out of here so I'll talk." She sat cross-legged before Elena, her expression expectant.

For all her talk, Elena didn't have a clue what they were going to talk about. She was trying to be adult about it, but acting like a small child would have been a much easier task.

"Okay, I'll start," she told Bonnie. Her expression changed into a more serious one than her previous nervous one had been. "But first, we need to set up some ground rules. Because otherwise we might as well be screaming at each other like three-year-olds." Bonnie nodded and Elena continued speaking, not knowing where it was going. "Okay, first one, everything we say in this room corridor thing doesn't leave with us, it stays here. Nobody else needs to know what we say in here and once we leave neither of us ever mention it again."

"Right, okay, got it." Bonnie was being cooperative, which helped make Elena feel a lot more relaxed.

"Second rule, no interrupting. When I'm talking and you hear something you disagree with, you can't just jump in and start talking. You make a note of what was said and when I've finished and it's your turn to speak, you may address what I've said. The same goes for me, of course, I won't say anything while you're talking."

"How will we know when the other has finished talking and do we only get one turn to speak?" Bonnie asked the question in a cold, analytical voice and it upset Elena a little.

"Er, good question. I guess we'll just say 'I'm finished' when we've finished and we'll each get, er, three turns to speak. Then we'll hug and leave here like nothing happened."

"Okay, sounds like a plan to me." Bonnie smiled slightly at Elena, giving her hope that their friendship wasn't completely ruined.

"Third ground rule, we can't talk about other people. This is about you and me, nobody else needs to be involved."

"Yeah, but I'd like to talk about what was happening with Damon in that corridor. Can I talk about that?" Bonnie folded her arms and raised her eyebrows at Elena.

"Okay, you can talk about what happened today, but don't just randomly bring people in who have nothing to do with this argument. Okay?"

"That's fine." Bonnie inclined her head towards Elena, signalling for her to continue the listing of the rules.

"Er, the fourth rule is… to… er… I can't think of any more!"

"Don't hold back," Bonnie stated. "If we really _are_ going to forget everything that's said in here then there's no need to not say something. We're best friends, Elena, and nothing either of us say today can change that. So say whatever you want, don't hide how you really feel."

"Perfect," Elena commented before rubbing her hands together nervously. "Do you think that's all we need?"

"Uh-huh, I guess we should get on with this."

"Okay, well I suppose I should start." Elena licked her lips and bit down on her lower one in an anxious manner. "Well, er, ever since you found out you were a witch and what Damon and Stefan were, you've changed. It's like you're the enemy of fun these days, you need to loosen up. You take yourself so seriously, like you're some kind of secret spy on a mission to save the world. Newsflash, Bonnie, as far as I know, you're no secret agent. You're my best friend who used to be the most fun person I know. It's sad to think that we're not half as close as we used to be. Me and Caroline are always hanging out and having fun, but with you I can't. I want my best friend back, is she in there? The fun one? I'm finished." Elena felt a little bad saying those things, but she felt exactly like that and they'd agreed to be honest. It was painful to watch Bonnie's face crumple at her words.

"Okay, maybe I have changed a little since I learnt that I had powers. But that's only because with powers like mine comes responsibility. I don't want anybody to get hurt and if that means that I don't get to have fun then so be it. It's better to be boring and save innocent people than be the fun central but be going around letting people get hurt right before me when I can do something to stop them. I only do these things because I can't bear the thought of being responsible for somebody's death. That would haunt me forever. But I'll try to be more fun I guess. I could be a little looser I guess, I don't need to be witch girl all the time. But you've got to do it with me. Because you're exactly the same as me, ever since you learnt about Stefan and Damon and what I am, you've been less fun. You're always being a martyr and being all serious and I don't like it. So we'll do it together. You and me. Now, what the hell is going on with you and Damon? I'm finished." She folded her arms and waited for Elena to reply. Bonnie couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. Elena knew how much Bonnie hated Damon, but had forced them to spend time together earlier due to a common interest – Elena. She didn't think Elena _liked_ Damon though, to Bonnie he was somebody who came with spending time with Stefan and Elena, apparently Elena liked him for himself. How could she? It baffled Bonnie. Sure, he was incredibly good looking and stuff, but still. He was _Damon_ for crying out loud! He'd killed so many people and he didn't give a damn. To Bonnie, he was and would always be a monster.

Elena sighed. She'd been hoping to avoid this topic. Because the truth was she didn't even know herself what was going on with her and Damon. He loved her and she loved him, that was the only clear-cut thing in this situation. They'd always been destined to be together; it was fate. But the thought of breaking up with Stefan was one that Elena couldn't bear thinking about. He'd be so hurt… But it was the right thing to do, she knew that. He probably knew it. How could he not? They'd been drifting apart for so long, it was impossible that he was completely oblivious of what was going on. It was the right thing to do though, breaking up. It would hurt, but it had to be done. Besides, maybe he'd find somebody else. She thought it might comfort her to think of him finding somebody else to fill her spot, but the thought made her feel a little ill. Which was stupid because he needed to move on. She _wasn't_ going to be Katherine. Only one of the Salvatore brothers would have her heart. And she'd chosen which one that would be when she'd told Damon she loved him. Damon was the one. She knew that deep in her heart. Damon was her soul-mate.

"What's going on with me and Damon?" Elena repeated, buying herself a few seconds to think. "That's a good question actually." She laughed nervously, hysterically in fact, hoping Bonnie would drop the subject, but she only carried on staring, her eyes probing. Upon seeing that no more time could be bought and Bonnie wouldn't back down, she suddenly became solemn and serious again. Business Elena. The next time she spoke, her voice was soft. "I love him. It's took me this long to realise, but I do. How could I not? The chemistry between us can't be denied. And he loves me. Last night, after the parade, we talked on the porch and we… well, we kissed. And I wanted to forget it, I _tried_ to forget it. But I couldn't. Damon and I… we're meant to be together. I guess you could say we've always known it, but last night confirmed it. And then this morning we talked it over and well… it really hit home. I'm in love with my boyfriend's brother." She said the last sentence more to herself than Bonnie, it was a reflection. Her situation was almost humorous. It sounded like the sort of thing that happened on crappy soap operas or that girls wrote into advice columns about. It wasn't the kind of problem that Elena Gilbert had, her problems consisted of vampires and witches and crazy tomb vampires coming to kill them all.

"You're in love with _Damon_? Seriously? I'm sorry, Elena, but eww. This is _Damon_ we're talking about here." Bonnie's eyes bulged with disbelief.

"I _know_ it's Damon, but I love him. He may have a mean, cold, uncaring exterior, but deep down he has the most beautiful soul I've ever seen. He's tried to keep it buried for so long, no wonder he finds it hard to connect with it again. Even now, as close as we are, he tries so hard to keep it hidden. But when he embraces it, when he lets it free, it's magnificent. He tries to act like he doesn't care, that he can't love, but I know the truth. He _can_ love, he _does_ love. And when he loves somebody he loves them with all his heart, with every fibre of his being he loves. It's just trying to make him feel again. And that, Bonnie, is why I love Damon Salvatore. He's a puzzle. And I get the joy of rediscovering him. I get the joy of helping him find the person inside him who loves me so deeply. It's easy to love Stefan. Damon's harder to crack, but when you get inside him, the reward is sweeter. I love them both." She paused, shuddering. Her similarities to Katherine always frightened her. "But in different ways. I love Stefan in a platonic sense, in the way family loves. I love Damon in the way that we're part of the same being. We're the same person."

Bonnie stared at Elena, eyes bulging, mouth hanging open, hands clasped together tightly.

"Oh. My. _God_! That was beautiful! Seriously, Elena, you would make an _epic_ writer. I'm so awe-struck I don't even care that you just professed your love for Damon to me. I accept your choice. Because what you just described to me _has_ to be love! It's how they all describe it. Hearing you speak then, it was like you were reciting Shakespeare or something, it was so intense! Are you breaking up with Stefan then?"

Elena bit her lip, thinking.

"I suppose I'll have to. It's going to be horrible, but I'll have to do it eventually. And it's not like I don't love him, it's just it doesn't compare with how I feel for Damon, you know? There's not the same kind of passion with Stefan. It's sad, but true. We've drifted apart. We're both just playing charades though, pretending things are fine. They're not. You know there's a problem when you prefer hanging out with your boyfriend's crazy vampire brother than him." Elena shook her head and sighed, her predicament making her head hurt.

"You'll work it out, Elena. At least you _have_ a guy who loves you, in fact you have _two_! I don't have any guys chasing after me. The only guy who's even showed me a little interest was Ben and he turned out to be an evil vampire who kidnapped me and wanted me to help him and Anna open the tomb. It's alright for some." Bonnie turned to Elena and they both laughed at their situations, falling into each others' hugs.

"Don't worry, Bonnie. You'll find a guy who loves you. How could you not? You're _gorgeous_, you're smart and you're a _witch_ for crying out loud! If any guy turns you down he's crazy. I just think they're intimidated by you. That must be it. I guess, to a guy, you're probably really intimidating. Guys are weird like that. They don't like going out with girls that are prettier than them because they're afraid they'll leave them for hotter guys."

Bonnie looked up at Elena, who still had her arms wrapped around her best friend.

"You really think that's it?" she asked hopefully.

"I _know_ that's it, Bonnie." Elena smiled encouragingly down at Bonnie. "And when the right guy comes along, the one that's brave enough to approach the prettiest girl I know, he'll be the luckiest guy alive."

Bonnie's eyes welled with tears and she hugged Elena harder than ever.

"I love you, Elena! You and Caroline are the best friends I could ever have."

"I love you too, Bonnie." Elena was crying too, plump tear drops streaming down her face.


	4. Control

Sorry I've been away for so long, I just couldn't get back into writing this for ages. However, I'm back now so here's the new chapter. Also, I got rid of the Steferine chapter 'cause I've decided on a new plot for the story. Hope you enjoy and please review!

After their emotional reconciliation, Elena and Bonnie wiped their faces and picked themselves up off the dusty laminate flooring of the hospital, wiping dirt off their clothes.

"Well, that was good," Elena sighed as she tried to pull the mop out from the door handles . "But we didn't stick to the three turns to speak each and we didn't stick to our ground rules."

"Oh well, it worked. We're friends again now and that's all that matters." She watched as Elena failed to pull the mop from between the handles of the door. "Come here, let me do it." But, despite her confidence, Bonnie couldn't remove the mop either. It seemed to have gotten lodged there. "Oh crap, we're stuck! Elena, what are we going to do?"

"Er, good question." Elena stood looking at the mop, trying to think of a way to get the mop out.

"Did I ever tell you I'm claustrophobic, Elena? That night when Emily came and trapped me in the bathroom was the single most terrifying moment of my life. Closely followed by when I fell down near the old church and got stuck down with the tomb."

"It's alright, Bonnie. We'll get out of here. I don't know how, but we will." She patted the smaller dark-skinned girl beside her comfortingly on the back. "The only thing I can think of is pulling the doors so hard that they break the mop in half, but neither of us are like super-strong. Any ideas?"

"Nope."

"Wait a minute, neither of _us_ is super-strong, but I know somebody who is." Elena raised her eyebrows at Bonnie meaningfully, a tiny smile playing on her lips.

"Not Damon!" Bonnie suddenly understood what Elena was saying.

"Who else can we call?"

"Stefan? He's super-strong."

"_Stefan_ is looking after my baby brother."

"Why is he looking after Jeremy?" Curiosity got the better of Bonnie.

"He drank some of Anna's blood and then tried to kill himself." The way Elena said it so matter-of-factly impressed her.

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine, but Stefan's baby-sitting him to make sure he doesn't try to kill himself again. Anna's blood is leaving his system so if he kills himself then he'll actually die. It's all very serious stuff we're talking about here and the idea of Jeremy being involved in any of it makes me feel ill."

"Okay, fine, call Damon. Just get us out of here; I'm feeling sick."

"Oh my god, I can't call him! We're in a hospital, Bonnie! If I call him it'll mess with the machines here. What are we going to do now?" Elena was panicking now, which meant serious trouble. Elena never freaked out and when she did it meant something was seriously up. Whether it was her that was up or the situation was as yet undetermined.

"If we scream loud enough do you think he'll hear us? I mean we only left him a few corridors away. And I don't see why he'd go anywhere."

"We can at least try. It can't hurt." Elena bit her lower lip before continuing. She wasn't looking forward to seeing Damon again. She'd decided that, until she and Stefan were officially broken up, she couldn't keep kissing Damon. It wasn't fair on Stefan. And if anybody saw them Elena would be dead. She wanted Stefan to hear it from her that she was in love with his brother. She felt like she could maybe soften the blow slightly if it came from her mouth. "Bonnie?" Her friend turned to look at her inquisitively. "You'd never tell Stefan about me and Damon, would you? It's just I want to be the one to tell him. I feel like it's only fair that I do it. And I think I could maybe like comfort him more if I'm the one who tells him."

"Okay, I'll let you tell him, but do it soon. The longer you leave it the harder it'll get to motivate yourself to tell him. And you _have_ to tell him."

"I know," she sighed. "Doesn't make it any easier… Right, let's get on with this. On the count of three we scream the words 'Damon, help us, we're stuck in the corridor right from the turn on your right'. Okay?"

"Okay."

"One, two, three!" Elena counted and they both screamed as loud as their lungs would allow them. And hoped for the best.

Just a few seconds after their desperate screams, the two girls heard somebody running up to the dead end.

"Elena? Bonnie?" Damon yelled. "Are you in there?"

"Damon! Thank god! There's a mop stuck between the door handles, can you break the door down for us?" Elena begged, putting on her nicest voice and hoping he'd fall for it.

"Magic word?" Elena could almost feel the smugness radiating off of him through the doors. He had them exactly where he wanted. In need of rescue and willing to do anything for it. She gulped. She had a feeling he wasn't going to do this for free.

"_Please_, Damon." She tried using her sweetest, most innocent voice in the hope that he'd let her off scot-free. She heard him chuckle through the door after she'd said it. _Damnit…_

"I'll let you out," he replied. Elena had the feeling that he hadn't finished the sentence yet. "_If_ judgy agrees to call a truce. I'm fed up with arguing that stupid witch! Get her to do it and I'll let you out."

Elena turned to Bonnie, her hands pressed together in a begging sign.

"_No_." Bonnie shook her head profusely. "We'll have to think of another way to get out because I'm not calling a truce with _that_."

"Oh my god, Bonnie! We've just had that big talk about this and you're acting exactly the same way as you did before!" Elena roared. "It's as if I've spent the last half an hour talking to a wall. What is it going to take for you to listen to what I'm saying?"

"That's it! I'm not taking this crap from you! Damon, open this door or I swear you'll be sorry!" Bonnie kicked the door hard in frustration.

"Er, no thanks. You can come out when I'm sure you're not gonna try and kill me again."

"Fine. But remember, you asked for this. This is _your_ doing." And with that, Bonnie stepped back from the door and stared at it hard.

Elena didn't know what happened next because a door was between her and Damon, but she heard him screaming. Loud, unrelenting screams that were full of a kind of pain Elena had never experienced. She had a feeling he'd never experienced a pain so strong either.

"Bonnie!" Elena cried. "What are you doing to him? Please, Bonnie! Stop doing it! He's in pain! What is wrong with you?" And without a second thought, Elena did the only thing she felt she could do. She pulled her fist back and punched one of her best friends square in the jaw. It stopped her at least, but the expression of betrayal on her face was enough to make Elena's eyes fill up with tears. But she wouldn't let the tears fall. What she'd done was completely justified. But before she had a chance to do anything. Bonnie fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Damon?" Elena cried. "Are you okay? What did she do?"

"I'm fine," she heard him mumble and she breathed a sigh of relief. "What did you do to make her stop?"

"I punched her. She's unconscious." Elena looked down at the crumpled witch at her feet.

"You _punched_ her?" Elena could hear both the surprise and the approval in his voice. "I'm impressed; didn't think you had it in you."

"Can you please let us out now? It's kind of hard to have a heart to heart when we're on separate sides of a door.

"Oh, sure. Step back so I can kick it open."

"Wait a sec, let me move Bonnie." She took hold of the girl's feet and dragged her to the side. "As mad as I am with her right now, I think I owe her the right to not get hit by a pair of double doors."

"If you say so. If I were you, I'd totally just leave her."

"Well you're not so… let's get on with this."

She watched as the doors before her flew open, the mop between the handles snapping in half like a piece of liquorice. And Damon Salvatore walked through them, looking as heroic as ever. As soon as she saw him, Elena threw herself into his arms, giving him a huge hug. She couldn't help it, she loved him so much.

"I've missed you," she grinned by way of explanation.

Damon looked down at her, a cheeky smile playing on his lips. "It's only been an hour since we saw each other."

"It's been too long." Elena stretched up to kiss him lightly on the lips and then pulled away. "Have you given Caroline your blood yet?"

"Yep, she'll be fine."

"Oh, I'm so glad. I don't know what I'd do if anything bad happened to her."

"Well this is cosy," a smug voice from behind Elena stated. Bonnie had regained consciousness apparently.

"Bonnie, I'm so sorry I punched you, but it had to be done. You were insensible and I –"

"–Don't you dare talk to me! We are through, Elena. You chose him over me. I know where you stand and I know where I stand and we're not anywhere near each other. Save the apologies 'cause I don't want to know. Oh, and by the way, don't think I'm not going to tell Stefan about you two, he deserves the truth. And Damon? Watch your back." With that Bonnie swept away, leaving Elena to cry into Damon's shoulder quietly.


End file.
